It looks like the Labour Party are not longer just indistinguishable from the Tories, but also Nigel Farage’s Reform party too. Speaking at a Sun general election event, Keir Starmer stepped up his anti-immigrant rhetoric – this time, with a racist dogwhistle about people from Bangladesh:
I’ll make sure we got planes going off… back to the countries where people came from. At the moment people coming from Bangladesh are not being removed.
Labour’s shadow minister Jonathan Ashworth also targeted Bangladeshi people. He said:
When they come from countries like Bangladesh or wherever, we’re going to send them back.
The thing is, Starmer himself enjoys a curry. He should know that Bangladeshi people run and own 85-90% of Indian restaurants in Britain.
Starmer: send them back to Bangladesh
Bangladeshi people have contributed to a culture Starmer benefits from, despite Britain’s colonial offensive against these people.
Britain outright ruled the Indian sub-continent, which Bangladesh (called Bengal) was a part of, for 200 years. The British East India Company took over Bengal specifically in 1757. Britain then used legislative power to decimate India’s thriving manufacturing industry, replacing it with British exports.
Extreme poverty for the residents of India dramatically increased during the period of British rule. In 1810 it stood at 23%. By the mid 20th Century it was 50%. Under British rule, there were also 165 million excess deaths from 1881 to 1920.
Yet now Starmer is scapegoating Bangladeshi people.
Former MP under Nelson Mandela and anti-corruption campaigner Andrew Feinstein is challenging Starmer in his constituency of Holborn and St Pancras. He commented:
Starmer saying he’ll return Bangladeshis to Bangladesh! How can this man claim to be Labour? How can he represent a diverse, inclusive, progressive constituency like Holborn & St. Pancras?
Starmer has also ruled out more safe routes for refugees, forcing them to take dangerous routes to escape persecution.
With Labour, the Tories and Reform we have three parties with a very similar, small minded outlook. We should vote for independents like Feinstein this election.
Featured image via Shehab Khan – ITV – X
